Cori Schumacher was warned: Stay away from those girls, or you’ll get a bad rap.

She had just landed on the elite women’s ASP World Tour in the mid-’90s, and image was everything. Hanging out with perceived lesbians could be a career killer, she was told, resulting in loss of sponsorships.

Schumacher’s story, along with others, is being told in a documentary set to be released this month focusing on gay surfers called “Out in the Line-up,” a film that aims at uncovering the taboo of homosexuality in surfing. Producers shot footage around the world, including local places such as San Clemente and Lower Trestles.

It was announced the film will be shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival at 8 p.m. April 30 at South Coast Village 3, as well as at the San Diego Surf Film Festival at 9 p.m. May 9 at Bird’s Surf Shed.

It’s an opportunity for Schumacher to share the story of when she was a young woman trying to figure herself out, and how she grappled with her sexual orientation. Trying to figure out where she fit into the surf world, she decided, was just too much.

So she walked away from pro surfing.

“I stopped being able to put energy into who I wasn’t,” said Schumacher, who lives in Carlsbad and frequently surfs places like San Onofre. “I had to leave because I couldn’t fit into the stereotype. I know I couldn’t do it by fitting into what surfing wanted me to be.”

More than $30,000 was raised through a Kickstarter campaign by the producers last year, and the film was screened at festivals in Australia last February earning accolades, winning best documentary award at Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival and best surf film award at the Byron Bay Film Festival.

Despite an increase in the number of elite athletes coming out in other sports, there has never been an openly gay surfer on the men’s professional tour, according to the release for the movie.

“In the wider surf community many hide the fact they are gay because of fear of rejection, and some surfers have even taken their own lives as a result of non-acceptance,” it reads.

The movie follows two gay surfers who travel the globe to hear stories from people like Schumacher, big-wave rider Keala Kennelly and former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank.

Schumacher, who has re-entered pro surfing as a longboarder, learned about the film from a website called gaysurfers.net, and the producer from Australia contacted her about being in the film.

There were a few reasons she and others felt it was important to be in the film.

“We all agreed that telling our story and being visible would be beneficial to younger, perhaps closeted surfers,” she said.

She said that through the years, she had always joked that male gay surfers were like unicorns – they were just myths and didn’t exist.

Ryan Hines also wondered if they existed. The 24-year-old surfer, who had moved from Florida to the city of Orange, was finding himself attracted to men. When he typed in the words “gay and surfers,” he was surprised to find the group that popped up.

“I was just looking for community,” he said.

Since then, he’s met with the group to surf at San Onofre, Huntington Beach and Bolsa Chica State Beach.

“It’s almost mind-blowing to open your eyes to different people and stereotypes,” he said. “I think it helped me personally be more open-minded to everything and everybody.”

He said he’s never experienced any prejudice in the water, and thinks maybe his generation is more open. Hines said when he first moved to California, he worked at Quiksilver and never felt any prejudice from his co-workers, who knew he was attracted to men.

He hopes the movie will show the traditional “macho man” the sport is about being inclusive and sharing the stoke.

“It will show that no matter the sexual identity of a surfer, you’re out in the water and everyone is the same, and you’re there for the same reason,” he said. “You’re there to surf and enjoy it.”

He said the question, “What does a gay surfer look like?” was answered. “I guess, just like any other guy I could go surf with, really.”

Schumacher, who returned to competitive surfing a few years ago and has won three world longbaording titles, hopes the film will open up discussion about homosexuality in surfing. She says the issue is far too often ignored.

“The silence is deafening,” she said. “Everyone knows with young kids, if you can’t talk about something – it can lead to rage, it can lead to self-abuse, self-hurting.”

The movie can carve the way for the next generation, and “pass down the gift of openness, so that hurting can go away,” she said.

“If there’s one kid out there who watches it, a surfer, who feels empowered to come out and be honest about their sexuality, that’s a win,” she said.

Laylan Connelly started as a journalist in 2002 after earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Through the years, she has covered several cities for The Orange County Register, starting as a beat reporter in Irvine before focusing on coastal cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach. In 2007, she was selected for a prestigious Knight New Media fellowship focusing on digital media at UC Berkeley, where she learned skills to adapt to the ever-changing online landscape. Using a web-based approach, she turned her love for the ocean into a full-time gig as the paper’s beaches reporter. The unique beat allows her to delve into coastal culture by covering everything from the countless events dotting the 42 miles of coastline, to the business climate of the surf industry, to the fascinating wildlife that shows up on the shores. Most importantly, she takes pride in telling stories of the people who make the beaches so special, whether they are surfers using the ocean to heal, or the founders of major surf brands who helped spawn an entire culture, or people who tirelessly fight to keep the coast pristine and open for all to enjoy. She’s a world traveler who loves to explore the slopes during winter months or exotic surf spots around the globe. When she’s not working, or maybe while she's researching a story, you can find her longboarding at her favorite surf spots at San Onofre or Doheny.